"White supremacy"? So Jews are white and Arabs aren't?

Israelpalooza isn't meant to be a political event. But I can see how that wouldn't stop Democracy Insurgent. Now, will they be consistent and go down to Seattle Center to protest Festal?

China is coming up at the end of May, and there's Iran in June. France is in July, the Arabs at the beginning of August, the Italians at the end of September, and the Croats and the Turks in October. (I left out some, but you know DI would never protest against the Tibetans.) Hope to see DI there for each and every one of those Festal events...

Huskies for Israel is not being honest about the purposes of Israelpalooza when they say it's not political. It is a very political event, just like Columbus Day is political. Both events are celebrations of moments in history where indigenous people were removed from their land to make room for European settlers. Whose culture these events celebrate and whose they leave out is a very political choice. Israelpalooza is leaving out the culture of Palestinians who lost their homes in 1948 and who have struggled hard for their right to return. It is leaving out the culture of Palestinians denied access to Jewish only roads, neighborhoods, and jobs. It is leaving out the culture of anti-Zionist Jews who are silenced and repressed by the state of Israel and attacked by Zionist organizations here in the US. Democracy Insurgent is crashing the party to make sure that these cultures are also celebrated.

I'm not sure how those associations lend any hint of credibility to your cause...

"sing and enjoy their very existence after thousands of years of persecution."
This is all great, the issue at hand is that the celebration of Israel as a STATE is a simultaneous celebration of colonization and apartheid.

"Would Di protest if 6 of Arab neighbors decided a little "ethnic cleansing" was in order an it was time again to kill all of the Jews? No, they would then celebrate in the streets"

Comments like this are ridiculous, groups like DI support resistance to oppression but also support heritage and culture. The issue is not one of "kill all the Jews" but instead, confront Zionism for what it really is, a political embodiment of racism. As a pro-Palestinian supporter I know that "we" work with many people of all backgrounds and affiliations, including Jewish peoples. So don't turn anti-colonialism into antisemitism.

If you're down with democracy and antiracism, please invite your friends to the Rally for Palestine - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=...

Thanks for that clarification Jennifer. I didn't mean to suggest in my comment that the Q center was formally endorsing the rally, only that DI reached out to the Q center (as you described) because we believe in building unity among all oppressed peoples.

When Israel was created, the day that is being celebrated tomorrow, 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes during a violent war with Zionist forces. This is not a reason to celebrate.

61 years later, Palestinians are living under apartheid. If someone were to throw an event celebrating the founding of the white Afrikaner government in South Africa, everyone on campus would be appalled and confront it.

Palestinians are systematically jailed, kept under curfew that lasts for days, not allowed to leave their towns. The Israeli military regularly raids and destroys homes, schools, and municipal buildings. These things are happening to innocent people. These people have a right to fight back. I don't condone violence on innocent people. But by not recognizing that Israel is an apartheid system, the organizers of Israelpalooza do seem to condone the violence of the Israeli state.

The organizers of Israelpalooza should know that this event is inherently political. If they wanted to celebrate Jewish culture, I would support them. If they wanted to celebrate the culture of all people living in what is now known as Israel, they would have also reached out to the many Arab Muslims, Christians, Druze, Ethiopian and Russian Jews who comprise the lower rungs of Israeli society, because they are not white. Its insulting to act as if falafel, henna, and hookah are the cultural products of the state of Israel when it was Arab Muslims, Christians, and Jews who lived in historic Palestine who forged this culture together. Not the Ashkenazi (European) Jews who became the dominant population after the Nakba (Catastrophe) in 1948.

First off, as others have pointed out the "white supremacy" thing is pretty ridiculous, as both Israelis and Palestinians are considered white--take a look at the US Census bureau definitions if you're not up to speed.

Second, what causes me to be skeptical about many of these "pro-Palestine" groups is that they seem only concerned with Israel's failings (and maybe the United States, as well).

Why is a celebration of Israel something that must be protested to provide the "other side" of the story, but no other celebrations for countries or groups are similarly protested?

Does Democracy Insurgent protest the Chinese Student Association's events to publicize the fact that China is the world's largest one-party state that suppresses gay rights, minority groups, free exercise of religion, speech and democracy?

Does it protest celebrations of Japan because of the Rape of Nanjing, invasion of China and colonialism of Korea, Taiwan etc.?

Does it protest about Islam because Medina was captured and made a holy city by expelling Jewish groups from their homes?

T_Chen: Ironically enough, several members of Democracy Insurgent are former members of March 1st Solidarity, a Korea solidarity group on campus. We have actually protested US and Japanese imperialism in Korea. We are against all forms of colonialism, racism, and oppression. Many of us are opposed to all states and ruling classes- we are not singling out Israel. If you want to hold a Korea, Tibet, or Xinjiang solidarity rally, more power to you.... our email address is d.insurg@gmail.com. Let us know where and when your protest will be held and we'll be there.

To be clear: when I wrote "the destruction of a people," I was not making charges of planned genocide; I was speaking of those who would say that Israel should be abolished as a nation. I did not get any of this from DI's notices, and I do not claim to have; I was riffing on general anti-Israel rhetoric.

In short, I am sure DI does not have the "destruction of Israel" as a goal, and I am sorry if it sounded otherwise.

But Matthew, I must ask:

Why do you think that Israel is a "white nation?" Have you been there lately? Ever? What does "white" mean to you?

How is crashing the party supportive of Jews (since you chose the term—I'd have said "Israelis") who may be conflicted about their relationship with Israel?

What is your evidence that such Israelis are silenced by Israel (I have a lot of Israeli friends, and almost all of them are conflicted about their feelings toward their government, but they all love Israel, and none feel silenced. Often frustrated and angry, but not silenced)?

Finally, what does this have to do with budget cuts and tuition increases? The UW just received a 26% budget cut; we are far behind any of our peer institutions in terms of tuition. Tuition will be raised. Sorry... What does this have to do with democracy? You want to fight the budget cuts? Do you realize this fight has been fought by your professors and administrators for the past twelve months?

In short: you need to read some history, study up on some economics, and find some focus. And until then, you need to focus on being civil.

In response to Matt H. comment #17, you should be honest about your group's goals: Israel is the only country singled out in your Demilitarize UW campaign, and ending Palestinian oppression is a main focus of Democracy Insurgent's actions.

If you feel the struggle against Israeli oppression is key to your anti-racism work, be proud and upfront about it, but be willing to justify that view.

If you truly are not singling out Israel, Democracy Insurgent should be able to state its goals without mentioning Israel, or include a list of oppressed peoples with whom you are in solidarity (Palestinian being one of many).

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid...

Adam D.,

There's no doubt that not all white people have historically been treated the same. During WWI, Germans and German-Americans were persecuted and German language newspapers were shut down. Irish and Italians have certainly been victims of prejudice and discrimination, too.

But so have Jews. You talk about innocent Arabs being harassed, but what about Jews? If anything, Jews face more threats and hate crimes than Arabs and those of Arab descent in Western countries.

So what does this all prove? I don't know, but it sure shows that trying to work the "white supremacy" angle into all of this is really reaching...

In response to Robert B, # 21. Yes, our current campaign does proudly focus on ending Israeli apartheid and we do explain why we have such a focus. Our speeches today clearly laid it out, as have our various educational forums over the past 9 months ( none of which you have attended.) To summarize, we believe Israel is the last standing apartheid state, and one of the few products of colonial settlement that has not yet been successfully overthrown by an anti-racist movement. Apartheid South Africa has fallen, and from Algeria to the Philippines, overt colonialism has ended (even though struggles against white supremacy and imperialism remain). Israel, meanwhile, continues to colonize new Palestinian land and creates new ghettoes and reservations every day. It is also at the forefront of enforcing U.S. Empire in the Middle East and around the world. Our panel last week on closing the CIA program on campus highlighted multiple examples of CIA-Israel cooperation in shutting down democratic movements and in funding right wing dictatorships from Central America to South Africa. But, as should be evident by now, we are not "singling out" Israel for criticism, we are also proudly and openly opposed to US empire and are long time opponents of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is why we helped build the Demilitarize UW campaign on campus these past two quarters.

Here are a few highlights from today:

- the Rally for Palestine attracted a sizable and diverse group of UW and community college students - Black, Asian, Arab, Indigenous, Latino, and white folks all participated. The rally was by far majority people of color. In contrast, Israelpalooza was almost entirely white. On both sides, people participated enthusiastically.

- Solidarity statements were read from the organizers of similar rallies for Palestine at New York University and the University of Southern California.

- Israelpalooza attendees were far from civil. The police allowed numerous Zionists to try and drown out, silence, shout over, and generally get in the faces of folks who were rallying to celebrate Palestinian resistance. The Israelpalooza organizers also tried to drown out Democracy Insurgent speakers with their music, and UW administrators allowed them to do it.

-Given this fact, DI members and supporters were remarkably restrained in responding- we helped keep the peace and prevented fights from breaking out. We held our ground and refused to be intimidated or silenced, but we also refused to stoop to our opponents' level. We refused to allow them to distract us from our purpose -we kept the mood lively and celebrated 61+ years of Palestinian resistance.

- the police blocked this diverse crowd of Palestine solidarity folks from entering Israelpalooza even though we had shown no signs of physically endangering anyone's safety. When asked why they were excluding students of color from attending Israelpalooza, the cops were stumped and speechless for several minutes.

- Safe from behind the police lines, Israelpalooza members cowardly shouted racist remarks, calling the crowd "swine flu" and "suicide bombers." In response to the latter comment, one of the white cops started chuckling.

-The police actions demonstrated that Israelpalooza organizers do not want the other side of the story told. They confirmed DI's statements that anyone who questions Israeli apartheid would be an univited guest at what is clearly a racist and exclusive party. They took off the window dressing of phony multiculturalism and dialogue and the underlying white supremacy that operates on this campus was revealed clear as day.

- The crowd responded by chanting "let us through - no more checkpoints" and "no more Jim Crow." We set up milk crates and started an impromptu open mic at the border. Students pointed out that a miniature Israel had been created on the HUB lawn, complete with racist cops acting like border patrol to prevent people of color from assembling on their own land.

(continued in next post...)

In response to Matthew H:

Your condemnation of the UWPD is a bit uncalled for I think. You inexplicably call them racist, conveniently ignoring the fact that some of the officers present were people of color. It is their job to preserve a safe environment, and it is fairly common knowledge that the first amendment can be restricted towards this purpose. The DI crowd was fairly hostile (in word if not in action), and if some incident had occurred (no matter who might have instigated it), the police would have been blamed for allowing it to happen. To call the police actions under these circumstances a "Jim Crow" incident is laughably disingenuous, and I would submit that is a bit degrading to the noble struggles of the civil-rights movement.

I have a great deal of sympathy for the Palestinian people. Their own leadership has caused them more betrayal and misery than anyone else ever could. Today, I did not hear any constructive discussions concerning a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians living side by side. All I heard were subtle inferences to Israel's destruction. Assuming that a mutually compatible peace is indeed the goal of DI, the display today does nothing to further a peaceful dialogue, and to pretend that it's aims were as such is either deceitful or delusional.

Furthermore, the CIA, like the military, are tools of the elected administration in this country. I suggest if you have feelings about how they are used and represented, you utilize your vote to express it rather than blame those organizations themselves.

I believe the police did admirably in making sure both organizations had their say.

The fact is, the DI protesters stated motive was to “crash” the Israelpalooza event, and were demonstrably hostile to the event’s presence. Allowing them into the circle would have necessarily impacted the participant’s freedom of assembly and expression.

As it was, each organization capitalized an equal portion of the public space, and had the opportunity make their statements to whomever was willing to listen. In addition those participating in the DI protest were free to enter the event (and did) provided they did not enter en masse, or attempt to disrupt the celebration.

Claiming that the police action to ensure the civil rights of those involved was tantamount to apartheid, Jim Crow, or ‘separate but equal’ are just as patently ignorant as the “suicide bomber” comment made by a participant at the event.

From what I saw, the DI protesters came the attitude that they were going to be offended no matter what happened.

Continued:

First, Matthew, a kefiyah is not Palestinian. It depends on the colors. A black one (which this woman was wearing) is Palestinian; a green one is for Hamas; a red on is for Jordan; a white one is what Israelis will wear.

Study up, grasshopper, before you try to talk smack.

Anyone who was not intent on crashing the party would have been welcome. What astounds me is that you are so shocked that a party would turn away people whose sole purpose was to crash it. Were you raised in a barn?

" Since Israelpalooza made it clear that they only wanted to give out Arab food to white people"

Jews are white when you want to hate them; Jews are black when you want to hate them. Ho Hum. We've lived through worse than your flaccid sputtering, Matthew.

I am also now certain that you have never been to Israel.

Nice tell. Israelis are "white." Who's the racist?

The thing I was most angry about during this rally was when DI shouted about how "they say they want dialogue... they dont want dialogue!!" towards the israelpalooza attendees. you say that youre trying to accomplish all these things (human rights advancement and the implementation of democracy) and yet you are blind to the fact that your actions are counterproductive to your cause.

first of all, a meeting was held 2 days before israelpalooza. supporters of israelpalooza, supporters of your rally, UW staff and UWPD were invited for a civil dialogue on the ways to properly conduct ourselves on thursday and attempt to conduct some semblance of a dialogue. at least 10 israelpalooza supporters showed up, as well as the staff and UWPD, and not a single DI member showed, although they signaled that they intended to do so. not only did you waste our time, you inherently avoided the dialogue that you claim israel supporters dont really want.

on another note, a few supporters was noticeably absent from your rally, at least in name. SJP and MSA. As a so-called pro-palestinian group, wasn't this a red flag to DI that your actions are not only counterproductive but embarassing?? the people you want to support do not want to support your actions. both groups may have the same goal, but clearly MSA and SJP want to do so in a fashion that doesnt incite anger and divide the UW campus, like you seem set on doing. open your eyes.

lastly, if you call yourself democracy insurgency, why do you use manipulation and propaganda against one of the only democratic states in the middle east. Gay Palestinian men flee to Israel because they are not safe in Palestine. Arabs serve in the government. Not to mention free media and free speech. If you want to do your research and claim things about government actions, feel free to do so in an educated manner. thus far i havent seen anything that convinces me you've done research on the other side of the issue, but rather blindly become involved in a issue you are not fully comprehending.